Ancillary Justice

okay yeah this was special. i have one major problem with it (love interest does an abrupt though not entirely unconvincing heel-face turn over the course of a time skip as outlined in a handful of paragraphs) and it didn't curl up and make a home of my heart like an insta-favorite novel would (though multiple bits had me raising my eyebrows) AND i can even imagine how this wouldn't have worked for me if i'd picked it up at the wrong time, but this was so...interesting and deliberate and i'm excited to see if the sequel turns me inside out like i suspect it might.

(True Rating: 3.5/5)

Ancillary Justice was interesting, but not endearing.

The plot was intricate and intrigue-filled, the setting was creative, and the themes were established well. However, the characters, while well-suited for their roles, left a little wanting.

Breq is the Justice of Toren, a ship once made up of multiple bodies, now trapped in one. She’s attempting to avenge the destruction of herself (or, rather, her ship and multiple segments), but her journey reveals a much larger conflict that threatens to break apart the Radch empire. The Justice of Toren’s POV in flashbacks was a creative literary device; multiple segments, having multiple conversations while doing multiple things, all contribute to the flow of the narrative, blending together. It’s done well, so they integrate seamlessly, rather than overwhelm, and it was a strong way of maintaining tension. However, Breq’s singular POV comes off as cold and distant. While this is probably intentional, because she’s an AI, it’s very difficult to warm up to her. It’s a shame, because she was usually involved in something very interesting.

Other characters also suffered from flatness. They contributed what was necessary to the plot, but little else. The two possible exceptions are Lt. Awn, and Seivarden, because they are presented with their own motivations and backgrounds aside from how they relate to Breq and her quest for vengeance. The leader of the Radch, Mianaai, had the potential to be a good villain, but was left too ambiguous.

It was very clever to make the overarching conflict one between the same person, and gave for quite a bit of nuance in the climax. However, even if Mianaai’s hive mind and bodies had split into multiple factions of herself, what did those sides want? What did the body closest to Breq want? It’s unclear how the conflict is divided.

The world-building is completely new, and doesn’t rely on crutches of the genre, except for the age-old “Deity’s body part!” curse. The unique linguistic aspect also provided a bit of a puzzle to the reader; since the gender-neutral Radch language has no real pronoun, the ‘translation’ in English refers to

everyone as “she.” This takes away some ‘closure’ on knowing a character’s sex and appearance, but leaves the reader the freedom to piece together their own interpretation. The Radchaai are also a religious society, and Breq indicates faith in a higher order as well; this backdrop to characters’ beliefs and motivation, and the way their society is knit together, was well-done. Too often science fiction novels ignore religion entirely when it comes to characters or society, so to see it acknowledged and integral here was a breath of fresh air. Unfortunately, the world-building also raised many questions that weren’t answered, such as family structures, what childhood and education leading up to the all-important Aptitudes look like, and more.

However, Radch society is also used as a framework for examining themes such as predestination (is anything truly a coincidence, or is there a divine hand?), morality in war, compassion, and how one solidifies their sense of identity. Furthermore, the use of ancillaries and the Radch citizens as ‘willing’ slaves to the empire—and the comfort in being a part of something larger—are recurring issues, discussed from multiple perspectives.

Despite pockets of uneven pacing, the dual plots leading up to the Justice of Toren’s destruction, and Breq’s revenge afterwards, are filled with action and political intrigue. It was easily the best part of the novel.

While it was enjoyable, in the end, it felt a little unpolished. It was decent, but I expected more from one of the most decorated scifi novels in recent years.

I loved this book. amazing world building without endless explanation leaving it to the reader to figure it out. even better as the audible audio book as the narrator fits so well.

Great read, loved the interesting use of pronouns by the main character. The story was engaging and I am looking forward to reading the other two books in the series.

Ancillary Justice is a revenge story told from the unique perspective of an AI who once controlled an entire spaceship and now inhabits a single human body. I really loved the novel, which stands out for its very creative universe and ideas. Leckie does an excellent job of portraying a hive mind's point of view, which is no small feat, and the result is quite challenging and thought provoking.

I especially enjoyed the relationship between Breq, the protagonist, and Seivarden, a flawed character from Breq's past. Another highlight is Breq’s attention to subtle social cues, which reminded me of Lady Jessica's perceptiveness in Dune, particularly during a key dinner scene.

I also liked how the book handles gender. Since Breq comes from a culture that doesn’t mark gender in language, she often misidentifies people's genders. It’s a fascinating way of showing how language shapes perception and abilities. This is another example of "linguistic determinism", a common themes in some of my favorite novels, such as "1984" and "Story of Your Life".

It's a 4.5/5 for me and I'll definitely be picking up the next book in the series!

Well written while still not being terribly appealing until nearly the end. The ideas about language were interesting, but the main character wasn't compelling enough to me to really make me feel invested in the story.

Do not read this book because people say it is like Murderbot unless the only things that you think are important about it is that it isn't entirely human and that it is genderless.

Full disclosure: I received a free review copy of this book from Net Galley.

Ancillary Justice is science fiction crammed full to the brim with wild ideas. The main character, Breq, is an “ancillary soldier” cut off from her ship for almost twenty years, but she isn’t exactly human, at least not by the standards of her society, the Radch. The Radch, it seems, were aggressive about expansion over thousands of years. As part of that expansion they captured entire civilizations and turned the leftover bodies into these ancillaries – soldiers that shared a mind with their ships, that were effectively as much a part of their ships as any piece of the hull. Corpse soldiers, to quote a slang term.

Breq, who comes from a ship called the Justice of Toren, has spent the past twenty years tirelessly working towards revenge against Anaander Mianaai, Lord of the Radch, who shares one similarity with Breq and other ancillaries: she has thousands of bodies under her control. This, naturally, complicates Breq’s plan for revenge. In the current day scenes, Breq searches for an artifact that will help her carry out her plans while also caring for a petulant drug-addicted former solider who once served on her ship. These alternate with flashbacks to Breq’s time spent as an ancillary soldier on the last planet annexed by the Radch.

Leckie does a great job of slowly revealing more and more about Breq’s past and the nature of the tragedy that befell her ship. She also takes fairly simple building blocks and turns them into fascinating philosophical mind-benders. What, after all, does it mean for Breq’s I to mean the ship Justice of Toren but also all the hundreds of ancillary soldiers in her hold? The narrative is simultaneously first-person and omniscient, jumping from place to place as the ship’s many perspectives build to a greater whole.

Leckie also sets up the Radch society as one that does not distinguish between the genders when speaking. In practice, this means that everyone in the book is ”she” regardless of gender. Further complicating matters for Breq is the fact that she has a hard time distinguishing gender traits when in other societies, and tends to use incorrectly gendered pronouns. At first I found this a bit confusing, but once I got used to it, I found myself not really worrying about the gender of characters. Leckie drops hints here and there as to the actual gender of certain characters, but in practice it doesn’t actually matter.

The scope of Ancillary Justice feels simultaneously personal and global; Breq’s actions are deeply rooted in events from her past, but the result of her fight against the Lord of the Radch could have far-reaching repercussions. The world-building is pitch-perfect, and never feels heavy-handed or overwhelming. As soon as I finished this book, I checked to see if Leckie has any plans to continue writing in this world, and she does – apparently this is the first book in a loose trilogy. That said, it feels like Breq’s quest is contained; the end does set up possible future stories, but I couldn’t begin to guess where else Leckie might take the world of the Radch. However, I find that exciting.

I think my favorite part of this book was the way that Leckie took so many truly alien elements and made them feel natural and believable. The characters are human, but a type of human thousands of years removed from our society, and changed in many strange ways. We don’t ever meet any non-human characters, but they lurk just at the edge of the story, menacing and dangerous.

I can’t wait for the next book in this series, and I’ll definitely be checking out Leckie’s short stories as soon as possible.

Note: recommended by Ken Shields and Lisa Dusseault

Fascinating and poignant.

I think the only thing holding this book back is that the motivations and friendships of our protagonist are quite blurry until near the end.

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